Which to use
“melt” and “must” are a confusable English pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #7,582
- “melt” frequency rank
- #198
- “must” frequency rank
- 7780
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | melt | must |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | To change (or to be changed) from a solid state to a liquid state, usually by a gradual heat. | To do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the sentence predicate, with failure to do so resulting in a failure or negative consequence. |
Where the eye mixes melt and must
Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 2 letters in sequence.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
A purely visual mix-up. melt (/mɛlt/) and must (/məst/) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 7780, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
melt is recorded at frequency rank #7,582, classified as averb, pronounced /mɛlt/. must is at rank #198, tagged as averb, pronounced /məst/.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 7780, this pair ranks #505,611 of 530,003 scored English confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.
Orthographic DNA of melt vs must
Shared letters: mt. Private to "melt": el. Private to "must": su.
"melt" · 4 letters · shape CVCC · "must" · 4 letters · shape CVCC